JERUSALEM - An Israeli auditor criticized the defense, intelligence and military Wednesday for lagging on locating and destroying tunnels used by Palestinian terrorists.

The audit by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss claimed the military only began formulating a systematic plan for confronting the tunnel threat in December 2004 after a number of tunnels had been used in deadly attacks against Israeli outposts in the Gaza Strip, the Jerusalem Post reported.

In June 2006, Palestinian militants tunneled into Israel, killed two soldiers and kidnapped Cpl. Gilad Schalit, who remains captive.

The comptroller also chastised the military for failing to create a comprehensive plan for stopping rockets launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip for the past six years. The Defense Ministry recently chose a defense system to intercept the rockets, the project has yet to be financed, the report said.